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Muhammad Hasan Tariq

Miss Farah Ansari

Assignment 3 / Critical Theories

March 14, 2024

Literary Theory Explained: Structuralism

Structuralism is a method of analysis in literary theory that emerged in the mid-20th

century. It focuses on understanding the underlying structures that shape texts, rather than

interpreting their individual content. Peter Barry gives us the basic definition of Structuralism

in following words.

“It is difficult to boil structuralism down to a single 'bottom-line' proposition, but if

forced to do so I would say that its essence is the belief that things cannot be

understood in isolation - they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures

they are part of (hence the term 'structuralism')”. (Barry 43)

Structuralism prioritizes the structures that produce meaning over the content of the

text itself. It examines the relationship between language and culture and how they influence

the production and interpretation of literature. Structuralists look for the interconnectedness

of elements within a literary work to uncover patterns and codes that govern its meaning.

‘Langue’ refers to the underlying structure of language, while ‘parole’ refers to individual

utterances. The ‘signifier’ is the form that the sign takes, and the ‘signified’ is the concept it

represents. Structuralists analyze texts by looking at opposing elements within them, such as

good vs. evil or light vs. dark. Structuralism has been influential in various fields, including
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anthropology, linguistics, and psychology, and has shaped the way we understand the role of

systems in creating meaning.

Structuralism in literature is heavily influenced by structural linguistics, particularly

the work of Ferdinand de Saussure. He proposed that language is a system of signs that

express ideas and that a linguistic sign is a combination of a concept and a sound-image,

which he called the signified and the signifier, respectively. Structuralist criticism often

focuses on narrative structures within literature. It seeks to understand the ‘grammar’ of

literature, the rules and conventions that govern the construction of stories and texts.

Structuralists argue that texts reflect certain codes and conventions of the culture they

originate from. These codes are deeply embedded in the text and can be uncovered through

analysis. Inspired by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, structuralists also look at how

myths and folk tales influence modern narratives, revealing universal patterns and structures

across cultures.

A key figure in structuralism, Barthes applied these ideas to literature, suggesting

that literary meaning depends on the cultural codes and prior discourses that readers bring to

the text. Structuralism has been influential across various fields, providing a method for

analyzing cultural phenomena by looking at the underlying structures that produce meaning.

Structuralism has also faced criticism for its perceived rigidity and for downplaying the role

of human agency and historical context in the production of meaning. Structuralism has

paved the way for various critical theories, including post-structuralism, which challenges the

idea of fixed structures and emphasizes the instability of meaning.

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Peter Barry also gives us the description of motives and goals that the structuralists have in

their mind while they analyze a text. According to him when they apply structuralist criticism

to prose texts, they look for following things.

“(a) the conventions of a particular literary genre, or

(b) a network of intertextual connections, or

(c) a projected model of an underlying universal narrative structure, or

(d) a notion of narrative as a complex of recurrent patterns or motif.” (Barry 50)

The structuralists also use a variety of underlying analogies between the structures of

language as defined by current linguistics to understand literature. As an example, Lévi-

Strauss proposed the concept of the "mytheme," which is the smallest unit of grammatical

sense in narratives. This concept is based on the analogy of the morpheme in linguistics. The

'ed' that is appended to a verb to indicate the past tense is an illustration of a morpheme. In

addition, they approach everything from Greek mythology to modern culture as "systems of

signs," applying the idea of systematic patterning and structure to the entirety of Western

civilization.

As Peter Barry further tries to explain what structuralism is and how structuralists

see text critically, he gives us a description of five codes which subvert the confident

positivism and help us to reduce complexity in the analysis of various texts. These codes are

as follows.
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1. The Proairetic code; This code provides indications of actions. ('The ship sailed at

midnight', 'They began again', etc.)

2. The Hermeneutic code; This code poses questions or enigmas which provide narrative

suspense. (For instance, the sentence 'He knocked on a certain door in the house of Mozang

makes the reader wonder who lived there, what kind of house it was, and so on.)

3. The cultural code; This code contains references out beyond the text to what is regarded as

common knowledge. (For example, the sentence 'Sherlock Holmes was the kind of man who

sometimes arrives at work in odd pipe' evokes a pre-existing image in the reader's mind of the

kind of man this is a stereotype of deep observation, perhaps, contrasting with the image of

lose deception contained in the notion of an 'agent'.)

4. The semic code; This is also called the connotative code. It is linked to theme, and this

code when organised around a particular proper name, constitutes a 'character'.

5. The symbolic code; This code likewise has a connection to the theme, although a more

extensive one. The most fundamental binary polarities—male and female, night and day,

good and evil, life and art, and so forth—are represented by the contrasts and pairings in it.

According to structuralists, these contrasting element structures are essential to how humans

perceive and organise reality.

Finally, Peter Barry suggests to look for some basic things in a text which

structuralists use in their critique of the text when they incorporate a practical theory in their

structuralist analysis. He says that the critics must look for parallels in a plot of the story and

what structures dictate those parallel in characters or plot and how the plot changes due to

these parallels. He adds that we should also look for echoes in the structure of a text, as to see

how repetitive things make a structure of the text sound. As far as characters are concerned,
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we should be able to look the reflective repetitions in their motives and they influence the

superstructure in which the text resides. At last, the critic should also be able to look for

language patterns and how they make a structure that is coherent and expressive of a

superstructure which has significant influence on the text.

In conclusion, Structuralism has offered a revolutionary lens through which

literature can be understood. After reading Peter Barry’s work and by focusing on the

underlying structures that govern the creation and interpretation of literary texts, we can see

that structuralism shifts the critical focus from individual authorship and historical context to

the overarching systems that shape meaning within a text. Structuralism’s legacy endures in

its methodical analysis and its influence on subsequent theories that continue to challenge and

refine our understanding of literature’s function and form. As we move forward, it is clear

that Structuralism has indelibly shaped the trajectory of literary criticism, emphasizing that it

is not merely the content but the structure of language that holds the key to deciphering the

rich tapestry of human expression.

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Glossary of Literary Terms

Sign The basic unit of meaning in language, composed of the signifier and the signified.

Signifier The form that the sign takes; not necessarily a word, but could be an image or

sound.

Signified The concept that the signifier refers to.

Langue The structure of a language; the system of rules and norms.

Parole Individual speech acts or utterances.

Binary Opposition Pairs of mutually-exclusive signifiers in a paradigm set representing

categories which are logically opposed and which together define a complete universe of

discourse (e.g., light/dark, male/female).

Metanarrative A narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience, or

knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as

yet unrealized) master idea.

Intertextuality The shaping of a text’s meaning by another text. It refers to the

interconnection between similar or related works of literature that reflect and influence an

audience’s interpretation of the text.

Dialectic A method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to

European philosophy since the 4th century BCE.

Hermeneutics The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation

of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts.

Semiotics The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.
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Works Cited

1) Barry, Peter. “Structuralism”. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Cultural and

Literary theory. Fourth Edition. Manchester University Press, 2017, pp. 43-58.